European Cruise Countdown: 28 Days

If ever a situation more aptly described the idiom "Ants in your pants" than the painful wait marking the 28 days until my Princess Mediterranean cruise, I don't know it. (Okay, I know of one, but like the MPAA I'm rated G) The slow fluttering that starts the minute you've booked your cruise that just doesn't subside, but builds to a persistent itch. One tries to resist, remain calm and affect a nonchalant veneer. But, in the end, the ITCH wins and one gives in to compulsion to research every minute detail, plan every possible contingency, have conniption fits over every possible thing that could go wrong, camp out at Cruise Critic forums and retread cruise topics with friends and family until they want to throttle you. (They are, of course, just jealous that they aren't going too your inner voice purrs) Scratching is bad for you, of course, because it just increases the anticipation level in a self perpetuating cycle. But, ahhhhhhh….it feels sooooo good…to scratch. This blog is my scratch.

My best friend, Angie, and I have yammered about cruising to Europe since 2004 after a whirlwind China land tour of 10 cities in 12 days proved that we could share a small space without killing each other. Being young and poor, we didn't have the money or enough vacation time and life just got in the way. She got a new job, I was a workaholic, I quit my job, she got another new job, I got a new job, I almost got married, I came to my senses, we both started to save for our own house, a lot of things conspired to keep us grounded. Eventually, after a series of false starts we consigned ourselves to looking at picture books at Borders and pretending that Starbucks is authentic Italian coffee. Then, just a few weeks ago, I had finished my last project at my new job and realized that I had no due dates until November. I basically emailed her with a "Sup, Europe?" and within a week, bam!, we'd booked the August 28, 2008 Emerald Princess Grand Mediterranean cruise leaving from Barcelona and the flights.

We are still young, 28, and poor, but ain't nothing gonna keep us down now. Er, we paid for nonrefundable cruise and air. We are thoroughly Chinese, 'nuff said.